European Union (EU)

On the occasion of the International Day of Peace, 21st September, Connection e.V., the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, the European Office for Conscientious Objection and War Resisters’ International have launched a signature campaign for deserters and conscientious objectors from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Read more and sign here.

In a joint appeal to members of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a broad civil society alliance from 20 countries has called on the European governments to grant protection and asylum to Russian and Belarusian as well as Ukrainian conscientious objectors and deserters. They need immediate protection and asylum.

The European Network Against the Arms Trade (ENAAT) has published a new brochure exploring who profits from EU funding for military research and development.

The European Commission has announced 16 beneficiaries of €205 million of financing from two programmes, the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR) and the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP), precursors to the European Defence Fund.

The UN's special envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, has described the country as “an experimental field for all kinds of new weapons systems”, as supporters of the warring parties violate the UN's arms embargo and continue to ship weapons into the country.

A coalition of European anti-arms trade organisations has criticised a provisional agreement between a committee of the European Parliament and the European Council, as setting “a dangerous precedent against the democratic functioning of the EU and in particular against the oversight role of the Parliament” and fuelling the global arms trade.

In mid-November, as European Union leaders made plans for the next EU budgetary cycle, 42 European non-profits and NGOs issued a letter criticising the bloc's plans for a European Defence Fund.

As part of the European Union's Permanent Structure Cooperation framework (PESCO), Estonia, Latvia and Finland are planning to develop land-based drones to be used for planning and reconnaissance.

In early July, the European Parliament adopted the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP). The programme was first proposed by the European Commission in June 2017, as part of the European Defence Fund.

A new report from the Transnational Institute exposes the huge impact of the European Union's “border externalisation” policies, the companies that profit, and the huge numbers of people impacted. Expanding the Fortress explores how migration control has become a major part of the EU's foreign relations, with externalisation policies requiring neighbours to “act as Europe's border guards”.

Thales is a French company, part owned by the French government, that builds a vast range of radars, sonars and electronic surveillance satellites, tactical communication systems and combat management systems, drones, helicopter avionics, armoured vehicles, mortar systems and missiles.

The European Network Against the Arms Trade (ENAAT) has released a position paper and online information tool, outlining the network's view on the key decisions the European Parliament will take on the European Industrial Defence Programme in the coming weeks and months.